Five Russian Plays: With One from the Ukrainian 1916 [Leather Bound]

by Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich Evreinov, Larisa Petrovna Kosach Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich Evreinov, Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin , Anton Pavlovich Chek

Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2019 with the help of original edition published long back [1916]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, Printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume, if you wish to order a specific or all the volumes you may contact us. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - English, Pages 197. EXTRA 10 DAYS APART FROM THE NORMAL SHIPPING PERIOD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.}

197 pages, Leather Bound

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I rated 4/5 overall because there are two really enjoyable outliers in here. Without those two, I would have given the collection a 2 or 3. This book is free on archive dot org.

A Merry Death (Nikolai Evreinov, 1908):
5/5 - This one was fun. It is something that could still play today & draw a crowd. Nothing serious, but I loved it nonetheless. This play & 'The Choice of a Tutor' are the only plays I will remember/recommend from this collection.

The Beautiful Despot (Nikolai Evreinov, 190? - title may be mistranslated):
3.5/5 - People living as if it’s the century before, to keep their sanity during the rising insanity of early 20th-century Russian modernity.

The Choice of a Tutor (Denis Fonvizin, 1792):
4.5/5 - Very good satire about elitism in 18th century Russia. A "noble", but idiotic family hires a lowly tutor for their son, but they aren’t educated themselves (though they think highly of themselves for their birthrights), so they don't even know what he should be taught when the tutor asks. I wish more of Fonvizin's works were translated into English, he has a great sense of humor.

The Wedding (Anton Chekhov, 1889):
2/5 - Not bad, it at least flowed pretty well… It was just kinda meaningless and uninteresting. A young man brings a near-deaf sailor to a pre-wedding event because the hosts offered 25 rubles for an interesting guest - in the end the sailor just annoyed everyone with his sea stories and we come to learn that the young man who brought the sailor pocketed the 25 rubles for himself.

The Jubilee (Anton Chekhov, late 1800s):
3.5/5 - Good. Kinda funny. Describes pretty well the frustration/rage felt from being constantly distracted by others when you’re trying to work on something.

The Babylonian Captivity (Lesia Ukrainka, late 1800s):
1.5/5 - Probably went over my head. Didn't care for it at all.